The Declaration by Thomas Jefferson; magazine edited by Sylvanus Urban (Edward Cave)The Declaration of Independence in The Gentleman's Magazine: For August, 1776 London: Printed for D. Henry, 1776. Paper-covered spine. Very good. Complete with front cover and pages [339]-[388]. Very light wear; small repaired loss at upper right tip of front cover. Paper-covered spine. This important edition of The Gentleman's Magazine includes one of the earliest printings of The Declaration of Independence. News of The Declaration reached London by sea during the second week of August, and the story broke with a short note in the August 10th issue of The London Gazette. The full text subsequently two London newspapers and this magazine. The Declaration is printed on pages 361 and 362 without introduction. It is simply titled "Declaration of American Independency" and signed in type by John Hancock and Charles Thompson. Other events in the American Revolution are discussed elsewhere in the journal with a Member of Parliament commenting, "the Colonies, as if animated with one soul, are determined to perish or be free." Several pages are devoted to an article titled "Proceedings of the American Colonists" which makes brief mention of The Declaration, "the ball is now struck, and time only can shew where it will rest." A very nice example of a much sought after magazine containing one of the earlies printings of The American Declaration of Independence.

BLOOMFIELD, TimothyHolograph Receipt for Straw for the use of the Barracks at Perth Amboy, New Jersey, 1776 Small holograph document. 4.25" x 2.75". Ink has eaten through the paper in two small places, else near fine. In full: "Recd. Perth Amboy 29 March 1776 of Francis Burke four Dollars for Two Load Straw for the Use of the Barracks. Timothy Bloomfield." Bloomfield ran out of room and wrote his last name over two lines: "Bloo" and above it "mfield." Bloomfield was a Perth Amboy patriot whose home was used as a meeting place for the Jersey Blues, a patriot group. He was twice nearly hung for repudiating the King, but was spared out of fear of reprisals. Perth Amboy was the seat of Colonial Governor (and Benjamin Franklin's son) William Franklin. He was arrested in January of 1776 when he was placed under house arrest until June, when he was held prisoner in Connecticut. .

RUTLIDGE, James].La quinzaine angloise à Paris, ou l&#146;art de s&#146;y ruiner en peu de tems. Ouvrage posthume du Docteur Stêarne, traduit de l&#146;Anglois par un Observateur A Londres [i.e. Paris]. 1776 - First edition. It appeared the following year in English translation, The Englishman&#146;s Fortnight in Paris; or, the Art of ruining himself there in a few Days, stating that the book had been suppressed in France. It is not, of course, by Sterne at all, but an original novel by the quarrelsome young Jacobite Sir James Rutlidge (also Jean-Jacques Rutledge, 1742&#150;1794). Born in Dunkirk, of French&#150;Irish descent, and brought up bilingual in English and French, &#145;Rutlidge&#146;s principal claim to fame was his promotion of English literature in France. In Observations à messieurs de l&#146;Académie française (1776) he provided a spirited defence of Shakespeare&#146;s superiority over French dramatists, attacking Voltaire for his earlier criticisms of the English writer&#146; (Oxford DNB). Such criticism also appears here, with a 12-page preface devoted to the defence of Shakespeare against the claims of Voltaire, and incidental reflections on the comparative merits of French and English literature scattered throughout. The novel itself tells the story of the rapid demise of a young English aristocrat during a visit to Paris. Seduced by the glittering beau monde, he attends balls, the races, galleries and the theatre, and (naturally) falls in love but, in a series of unfortunate events, loses all his money and finds himself imprisoned for debt. The novel&#146;s critique of French society made it notorious in its day, especially since Rutlidge neglected to disguise several of its characters, notably the painter Jean-Baptiste Greuze whose atelier the hero visits, occasioning a discussion on the decadence of contemporary French art. Despite its obvious caricatures, it is a serious comparison of English and French character and must be worthy of a modern reprint. Cioranescu 57877; Gay III, 912&#150;3. 12mo (164 × 94 mm), pp. xvi, 287, [1]; complete with the half-title; light marginal waterstain to the first couple of leaves, the odd mark elsewhere; contemporary mottled calf, very slightly rubbed, small chip at head of upper joint, short crack at foot, spine gilt in compartments, gilt lettering-piece. [Attributes: First Edition; Hard Cover]

[ANSTEY, Christopher, 1725-1805][COOK] An election ball in poetical letters, in the Zomerzetshire dialect, from Mr. Inkle, a freeman of Bath, to his wife at Gloucester : with a poetical address to John Miller, Esq.; at Bath-Easton Villa. By the author of the New Bath Guide. Dublin : Printed by Geoge Bonham, at No. 42, in Dame-street, for the Proprietors, 1776. Octavo, disbound, original stitching, pp 32 (pp 1-12 being Anstey'sThe first ode of the book of Horace imitated. To John Miller, Esq.), pages with a moderate amount of toning and a light corner crease to the final few leaves, otherwise without faults and in near original state.
Christopher Anstey was a wealthy Cambridgeshire clergyman and man of letters whose satirical pieceNew Bath Guide, or members of the Blunderhead family (1766), which had achieved moderate popular success, is said to have provided the inspiration for Tobias Smollett's Humphry Clinker. Anstey's equally savage satire An election ball in poetical letters lampoons the females, in particular, of Gloucester and Bath's (only superficially) genteel society, and in its mockery of their gauche attire it contains two stanzas that allude to Cook's first voyage: 'In short, Head and Feather and Wig altogether / With wonder and Joy would delight 'e, / Like the Picture I've zeen / of th'adorable Queen / Of beautiful, blest Otaheitee. / Who gave zuch a Ball, / To our merry Men all, / And there did so frisk it and dance it, / Zome thought her as vine, / And zome did opine, / 'Twas Venus herself in her TRANZIT'.
This contemporary reference (Anstey's work is dated December 5, 1775) to the observation in Tahiti by Cook, Green and Solander of the Transit of Venus in 1769 has apparently previously gone unnoted in the literature of eighteenth-century voyages.

URBAN, SYLVANUS, GENT (Edward Cave) Thomas Jefferson :DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. THE GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE AND HISTORICAL CHRONICLE. VOLUME XLVI FOR THE YEAR M.DCCLXXVI London, D. Henry, 1776.. THE AMERICAN DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 1776. 8vo, approximately 215 x 140 mm, 8½ x 5¼ inches, LACKS ALL THE MAPS AND IS BEING SOLD AS A VERY EARLY PRINTING OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. Full year January - December 1776 bound together, plus the Supplement, each year having its own title page with a woodcut of St. John's Gate at the top. Present are 6 engraved plates,1 folding, illustrations in the text, general title page, preface, 608 pages plus 16 pages of index, quarter brown calf, marbled boards. Spine badly worn and chipped with loss to leather with an amateur cloth repair to head and tail of spine, boards rubbed and scuffed with slight loss to marbled paper, shelf wear to edges, corners worn with board showing, occasional brown spot and pale staining, all text legible, most text clean, the pages of the Declaration are clean, a good copy, lacking maps as mentioned. The Declaration is found on pages 361 & 362 of the August issue for 1776. There are also some other articles of interest on America. MORE IMAGES ATTACHED TO THIS LISTING, ALL ZOOMABLE. FURTHER IMAGES ON REQUEST. POSTAGE AT COST.

RECKITT, William.Some Account of the Life and Gospel Labours of William Reckitt. - London, James Phillips, 1776. Small 8vo. Contemporary sheep, spine with raised bands; pp. 204; rebacked, retaining the original spine, new morocco lettering-piece, light wear to extremities, apart from light spotting to title a rather clean and fresh copy. First edition. William Reckitt (1706-1769), member of a Quaker family based in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire 'was apprenticed by a Friend for a while and then set up as a weaver in the Wainfleet district and married Ellen Maw in 1731. They went on to have nine children though several of them did not survive childhood. In 1744 William Reckitt began a travelling ministry and in 1756 he embarked on a long journey across France and out to visit Friends in America and the West Indies before returning in 1760. From his experiences he wrote Some Account of the Life and Gospel Labours of William Reckitt and editions of this contain printed copies of his letters home. The text contains detailed descriptions of the American colonies and is interesting for its anti-slavery content. In the West Indies he saw such cruelty that "it raised such a just indignation in my heart, that I used great freedom of speech sometimes in conversation. Any contrition he encountered he took as a sign that `the Lord is rising . in judgement in the hearts of those negro keepers, shewing them the practice is evil" (Reckitt, William Reckitt, pp.9-49; Reckitt, Some account of the Life.of William Reckitt, pp. 176-7). William Reckitt made a second trip in 1764 during which his wife died. He returned to Lincolnshire and died himself in 1769' (Records of Isaac Reckitt kept at Hull University, online). ESTC T49229. [Attributes: First Edition]

Abbé PROYARTHistoire de Loango , Kakongo et autres royaumes d'Afrique first edition, rare and illustrated with a large folding card on paper.
Binding in full Bastion slightly mottled posterior. Smooth back decorated with 5 irons with oil lamp and castors. Title piece in red morocco. Worn top cap. A lack in tail. Upper joint split overhead over 1.5 cm. Small marginal bites on the first leaves.
Book written by the missionaries Bellegarde and Descourvières in northern equatorial Africa, especially in the kingdoms of Loango and Kakongo, east of Zaire, on the sea (the kingdom of Loango was abolished in 1885). An accurate description of the fauna, flora, inhabitants and their customs and customs, as well as their history and political regimes and the language used by these peoples. Several chapters deal with slavery, Loango was in fact one of the principal places in Africa for slavery, and its principal trade, the slaves were presented as a war-wager, and the city traded especially with Nantes. The second part of the book narrates the mission of the two evangelists, more actually written by Proyart from the memoirs. Méquignon Paris 1776 In-12 ( 10x17cm) viij, 382pp. relié

SAYER, Robert & BENNETT, JohnThe American Military Pocket Atlas; Being an Approved Collection of Correct Maps, Both General and Particular, of the British Colonies; Especially Those Which Now Are, or Probably May Be the Theatre of War R. Sayer and J. Bennet,, London, 1776 - Sir Henry Neville's "Holster Atlas" 4to., (270 by 210mm). 6 fine folding engraved map with contemporary hand-colour in outline, folds strenthened with linen on verso at the time of binding. Contemporary sprinkled calf, the spine in six gilt-ruled compartments with five raised bands, green morocco lettering-piece in one (strengthened at the head and foot of the spine) Sayer and Bennett, successors to Thomas Jefferys, published this iconic atlas for British use in the field during the American Revolution, "a portable atlas.calculated in its bulk and price to suit the pockets of officers of all rank." However, since the atlas was mostly stowed in their holsters, it became widely known as the "holster atlas." This example, from the library of Sir Henry Neville, has been bound with the maps with fewer folds and so a larger format. The maps are those "that the British high command regarded as providing essential topographical information in the most convenient form" (Schwartz & Ehrenberg), and include: "North America, as divided amongst the European Powers", and "A Compleat Map of the The West Indies, containing Coasts of Florida, Louisiana, New Spain, and Terra Firma: with all the Islands" by Samuel Dunn; "A General Map of the Northern British Colonies in America. Which comprehends the Province of Quebec, the Government of Newfoundland, Nova-Scotia, New England and New York" by Samuel Holland and Thomas Pownall (1776); "A General Map of the Middle British Colonies, in America. Containing Virginia, Maryland, the Delaware counties, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. With the addition of New York, and of the Greatest Part of New England, as also of the Bordering Parts of the Province of Quebec, improved from several surveys made after the late War, and Corrected from Governor Pownall's Late Map 1776" after Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson, and Lewis Evans; "A General Map of the Southern British Colonies, in America, comprehending North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida, with the Neighbouring Indian Countries." after William de Brahm, Henry Mouzon, John Collett, and Bernard Romans; and "A Survey of Lake Champlain, including Lake George, Crown Point and St. John" by William Brassier. [Attributes: Hard Cover]

Samuel StillmanDeath, the last Enemy, destroyed by Christ. A Sermon, Preached, March 27, 1776, before The Honorable Continental Congress, on the Death of the Honorable Samuel Ward, Esq. One of the Delegates from the Colony of Rhode Island. Joseph Crukshank, Philadelphia 1776 - First printing. Scarce. OCLC locates only six examples in book format, one of which rests in the Library Of Congress. 28 pp. intact and complete but apparently disbound from a larger volume. Small chip top corner of p. 25/26 not affecting any text and a somewhat larger chip top corner of p.27/28 in the same area affecting one or two words. Eulogy delivered before the Continental Congress on the occasion of the passing from smallpox in Philadelphia of Samuel Ward of Rhode Island. In addition to serving in the First Continental Congress, Ward had been Governor of Rhode Island and was a founder of Brown College. He was governor at the time of the passing of the Stamp Act in 1765 and was the only colonial Royal Governor to openly oppose it. A stunch patriot, he undoubtedly would have been a signer of the Declaration of Independence but died some three months before it was adopted. [Attributes: First Edition]

RAPHAEL, RAFAELE, Raffaello Sanzio d'Urbino. (1483-1520). &#150; OTTAVIANI, Giovanni, VOLPATO, G.LOGGIE DI RAFAELE NEL VATICANO - being the (Seconde Parte delle Logge di Rafaele nel Vaticano che contiene XIII. Volte ed i loro respettivi Quadri) Rome. (1776) - Large vertical folio 22 x 17 1/2 inches, handsomely leather bound in half nineteenth century red calf. Engraved title by Volpato and 26 plates joined in the centre to make 13 FINE LARGE PLATES by Ottaviani after Gaetano Savorelli and Pietro Camporesi. The original 18th century edition on thick laid paper. COMPLETE AND IN NEAR FINE CONDITION. The plates measure a total of 21x34 inches including wide margins. These fine and large and decorative plates concentrate on the quadrants above the doors and windows in the Vatican Loggias. The Vatican loggias or, using the Italian plural, Vatican loggie, are a corridor space in the Apostolic Palace, originally open to the elements on one side, which were decorated in fresco around 1519 by Raphael's large team of artists. [Attributes: Hard Cover]

Mayer, Jean.Pomona Franconica : Déscription Des Arbres Fruitiers, les plus connus et les plus éstimés en Europe, qui se cultivent maintenant Au Jardin De La Cour De Wurzbourg; avec la représentation éxacte de leurs fruits, en figures en taille-douce, déssinées, gravées et enluminées d'après Nature ; On y a joint Les Détails Les Plus Interessants Sur Leur Culture, Greffe, Plantation &c... Nuremberg: Adam Wolfgang Winterschmidt, 1776. 4to, civ, 152pp. With an allegorical engraved title-page, a folding plate showing the gardens at Wurzbourg, 8 plates of apricots, 8 plates of almonds, and 17 plates of prunes, all beautifully hand-colored as issued. Old diaper calf, backstrip with two red lettering pieces, white library markings at foot of backstrip. Internally a beautiful copy. Vol. 1 only (of 3) of the finest German series of fruit illustrations ever published. &#x93;A delightful and charming work&#x94; (Dunthorne) with highly finished plates, some of the best 18th-century illustrations of fruit. The first 2 volumes comprise all the fruits with the exception of apples and pears, which appear in the third volume which was published 21 years later in 1801 and is often wanting. Mayer states in the introduction to the Pomona Franconica that he had first intended to produce only a catalogue raisonné of the different fruit cultivated in the court garden and to illustrate it with 'illuminated' copper-engravings, but that he was then persuaded by 'lovers of gardening' to write a systematic treatise on the cultivation of fruit trees. Dunthorne 220; Nissen BBI 1318; Pritzel 6017; Raphael Oak Spring Pomona 51 (volumes I and II only); Stafleu & Cowan TL2 5748. Ex-library copy but with no markings in the text or plates.

(ALGAROTTI, Francesco & Bonomo)Catalogo dei Quadri dei Disegni, e dei Libri che trattano dell'Arte del Disegno della Galleria del fu Sig. Conte Algarotti in Venezia One finely engraved head-piece. 4 p.l., LXXX pp. 8vo, attractive early 19th-century calf-backed marbled boards, flat spine gilt, orange & green morocco lettering pieces on spines. [Venice, ca. 1776]. [bound with]: (PINELLI, Maffeo). Catalogo di Quadri raccolti dal fu Signor Maffeo Pinelli, ed ora posti in vendita in Venezia 1785. viii, 125 pp., one blank leaf. 8vo. [Venice: July 1785]. [bound with]: (GRIMANI COLLECTION). [Drop-title on p. 3]: Pitture e Scolture nel Palazzo di Casa Grimani a S.ta Maria Formosa. Engraved frontis. Titles & text in double columns in Italian & French. 13 pp. 8vo. [Venice: ca. 1790]. A fascinating sammelband of three very rare privately printed catalogues of important Venetian art collections, the first two of which were dispersed in the late 18th century. This volume was bound for Girolami Caratti of Udine, art enthusiast and book collector extraordinaire. Caratti is an elusive figure but we know that he corresponded extensively with Giovanni de Lazara and others. I. A rare catalogue, compiled by the architect G.A. Selva and based on the notes of the painter Pietro Edwards; a French language issue appeared in the same year and is also very rare. The collection was that of Francesco Algarotti (1712-64), cosmopolitan connoisseur of the arts and sciences who was esteemed by the philosophers of the Enlightenment for his wide knowledge and elegant presentation of advanced ideas. Algarotti commissioned a great many Venetian paintings for Augustus, Elector of Saxony, and for himself. Algarotti died in 1764 and the collection was then augmented by his brother Count Bonomo Algarotti who died in 1776. This catalogue was privately published by Bonomo's daughter, Contessa Maria Algarotti Corniani, from a manuscript found among her father's papers. The catalogue describes a large collection of splendid paintings, with detailed descriptions and measurements in Parisian feet (a rate of translation into Venetian feet is supplied). The drawings are described in less detail, though the medium is specified, and an extensive library of books on the fine arts and architecture is appended on pages LIX-LXXX. WorldCat locates no copy of either the Italian or French issues of this catalogue in North America. II. The rare catalogue of Maffeo Pinelli's large collection of paintings, here offered for sale, compiled by Jacobo Morelli, librarian at the Marciana, and authenticated by Davide Fossati and Domenico Maggioto, both members of the Accademia di Pittura di Venezia. The catalogue was privately published by Pinelli's executor, Daniele Zanchi, and includes detailed descriptions and measurements in Venetian feet of the paintings offered. In the preface, Morelli also devotes two pages to advertise his forthcoming catalogues Pinelli's library, justly claiming that the books are "di ottima conservazione, e degno di adornare qualunque Bibliotheca Regia" (p. viii). The catalogues of the Pinelli library, one of the most important private libraries in Italy, was issued in six volumes in 1787. The collection was then sold en bloc to the London bookseller James Edwards who in turn issued an auction catalogue. This sale marked the beginning of London as international art center. WorldCat locates only the CCA copy in North America. III. A charming guide to the art treasures in the Palazzo Grimani of Venice. The frontispiece depicts the entrance and view into the courtyard of the Palazzo Grimani. Caratti has annotated the frontispiece in manuscript and amended two points in the printed description. Fine copies, most attractively bound. With the signature of Caratti on the free front endpaper: "Ao. 1811. Girolamo Caratti Udine." I. Cicognara 4592. II & III. Not Cicognara.

ANSON, George (1697-1762)A voyage round the world, in the years MDCCXL, I, II, III, IV, by George Anson, Esq; afterwards Lord Anson, Commander in Chief of a Squadron of His Majesty’s Ships, sent upon an Expedition to the South-Seas. Compiled, from his papers and materials, by Richard Walter, M. A. Chaplain of His Majesty’s Ship the Centurion, in that Expedition. Illustrated with forty-two copper-plates [Extra-Illustrated] London: printed for W. Bowyer and J. Nichols, W. Strahan, J. F. and C. Rivington, T. Davies, L. Hawes and Co. R. Horsfield, T. Becket, T. Lowndes, S. Crowder, J. Knox, T. Cadell, W. Otridge, G. Robinson, R. Baldwin, W. Woodfall, and E. Johnston [through 1776], MDCCXLVIII [1748]. Early Reprint. Full Calf. Near Fine+. Fifteenth Edition (first published 1748) of the official account of Anson's famous circumnavigation of the world, the "most popular book of maritime adventure of the eighteenth century" and a "masterpiece of descriptive travel." (Hill). Royal Quarto (not the inferior octavo edition of the same year), complete with 42 plates, maps and charts (many folding), in addition to the magnificent folding map, bound in as frontispiece, showing the route of the Centurion, not present in the first edition and not called for in the directions to the binder. xx,417,[3]pp. Contemporary speckled calf, sympathetically rebacked in matching brown calf, spine with raised bands ruled in gilt, gilt-lettered red morocco label. End papers renewed, but retaining copper-engraved armorial bookplate of Julines Hering (presumably Julines Hering [1732-1797] of Heybridge Hall, military officer and later wealthy owner of sugar plantations in Jamaica), reaffixed to front paste down. An excellent copy, the attractive contemporary binding tight and secure, several maps with nearly invisible repairs by a paper conservationist, a few plates and adjacent text-pages foxed, a few neat marginal notes in brown ink in a contemporary hand, but in all a very bright, clean, well-margined copy, with only light occasional finger-soiling and spotting. Hill 1817. Sabin 1629. Gibson's Library, p. 50. Borba de Moraes 38. Cox Vol. I, p. 49. One of the landmark English circumnavigations, Anson's voyage laid the groundwork for British voyages of exploration in the Pacific by Cook and others during the second half of the 18th century. Unlike those later voyages undertaken for scientific purposes, however, Anson's was a strictly military expedition, intended to disrupt Spanish commerce in the Pacific and cut off Spanish supplies of wealth from South America after the outbreak of war between Britain and Spain, in 1739. In the autumn of that year, Anson was put in command of a small squadron—the Centurion (60 guns), the Gloucester (50 guns), the Severn (50 guns), the Pearl (40 guns), the Wager (28 guns), the sloop Tryal (8 guns) and two store ships—and sent to plunder Spanish trading territories on the Pacific coast of South America. But after his ships were battered by storms and most of his crew lost during the trip round Cape Horn, the expedition was on the verge of collapse. Anson retreated across the Pacific to Macao, where the Centurion was repaired and more crew was signed on. Then, in June, 1743, Anson achieved a substantial victory, capturing a Spanish treasure ship, the Manila galleon, off the Philippines, and returned to England in 1744 by way of China, thus completing a circumnavigation. "Anson’s voyage is remembered as a classic tale of endurance and leadership in the face of fearful disasters, but to the British public of 1744 it was the treasure of the galleon, triumphantly paraded through the streets of London, which did something to restore national self-esteem battered by an unsuccessful war." (ODNB) The precise authorship of the Voyage has long been a subject of debate. Although the title-page states the book was "compiled" by Richard Walter, chaplain of Anson's flagship the 'Centurion,' Sir John Barrow's 1839 Life of George, Lord Anson claimed it was, in fact, written by Colonel Benjamin Robins, "an engineer officer of great talent and celebrity." According to Barrow, "Walter drew the skeleton, and Robins clothed it with flesh and warmth of imagination." N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed.

Ward, Rev. SamuelA Modern System of Natural History. [In Twelve Volumes, Complete]; Containing Accurate Descriptions and Faithful Histories, of Animals, Vegetables, and Minerals. [Quadrupeds (Vols I - IV) ; Ornithology (Vols V-VIII) ; Fishes (Vols IX-X) ; Reptiles & Insects (Vol XI) ; Waters, Earths (Vol XII)] F Newberry, London 1776 - Copperplate engravings; 12mo 7" - 7½" tall; 2146 pages; 12 volumes, complete. 1st and only edition. 12mo (in 6s). Uniformly bound in marbled calf with extra gilt tooling to spines rubbed and perishing. Recent owner commissioned gilt tooled morocco spine labes for each volume with title (Ward's Natural History) and volume number labels mounted to spines. This set contains 122 copperplate engravings, though there is certainly one plate lacking from Vol V. Volumes V - XII issued with two title pages, one for the whole work and one for the specific study - Ornithology, Fishes, Reptiles etc. Each of these discrete sets/works contained in the larger set contain separate indices and pages with lists of plates for placement by the binder. Lacking from these catalogs is the plate for the Gyr Falcon to be placed at pp. 108 of Vol V. Vols I-IV, which comprise the study of Quadrupeds were issued with only the title page for the whole work and not with title pages for the Quadruped volumes. No list of plates accompanied the Quadruped volumes; it appears the extra several plates found in this set (and not seen in most other sets) are located among the first 4 volumes. Almost uniformly there are two blank endpages at front and rear, though in 2 volumes there is only a single blank at rear. Interestingly Vol XI - the study of reptiles has a 2nd title page identifying it as Vol I of that study, though no 2nd volume appeared. As a final leaf in the last (12th volume) a corrected 2nd title page for the Reptile volume is supplied without reference to a Vol I for the book on Reptiles. Several volumes have Newberry catalog ad pages at rear. Each volume collated and found complete, save for the lack of a single plate from Vol V. Half of the volumes have the front board detached, and several with the rear board detached. Other boards tenuous. Leather at spines chipped at spine ends and with surfaces rubbed and flaking with much loss of extra gilt work. Housed in a custom made cloth covered case commissioned by recent owner. Original manuscript ownership rubbed from the patedowns of each volume, though dimly visible - might be a James Flanagan. Text blocks tightly bound, bright and very neat; copperplates are crisp and fresh. Generally considered complete with 118 copperplates, this set notable for several extra plates. Contents much better than VG but with wear to spines and joints. G+ [Plate count by Volume : I (4) ; II ( 21) ; III (16) ; IV ( 4) ; V ( 7) ; VI (7) ; VII (16) ; VIII (7) ; IX ( 13) ; X ( 7) ; XI (10) ; XII (10) Oversize book will require additional charges for most shipping methods. [Attributes: First Edition; Hard Cover]

Matthew ThorntonDeclaration signer Matthew Thornton signed document, scarce 1776 date New Hampshire, September 20, 1776. 3.5" x 7". "Partial page ADS, 7"" x 3.5"", boldly manuscripted with strong contrast and signed by Declaration of Independence signer Mathew Thornton. Dated ""Septem 20th 1776"", and signed by him as ""M. Thornton"". Large perfect round hole in the middle of the sheet, about 1/2"" in diameter. (This may have been purposively placed once paid as proof of receipt of payment and rendering it used). Overall toning with slight staining. Irregular edges. Docketed to verso stating it was received with small notes in graphite.A fantastic DS with an incredibly rare 1776 date. The first we have seen come to auction with this scarce date. Thornton was first President of the New Hampshire House of Representatives and Associate Justice of the Superior Court of New Hampshire. He was elected to the Continental Congress after the debates on independence had occurred, but as he did not arrive in Philadelphia until November 1776, he was granted permission to actually sign the Declaration of Independence three months after the formal signing in August.The signed document is shown in part below:""State of New Hampshire - Septem 20, 1776To Nath Johnan Esq. Pursuant to a voteOf Council of ... pay Nathaniel Jorden For taking care of ... Light house at NewCastleFive pounds, six shilling, + six pence -£5 6:6 M Thorton ... "" "

SMITH, Adam.An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. London: Printed for W. Strahan; and T. Cadell,, 1776. 2 volumes, quarto (275 x 210mm). Contemporary calf gilt, spine in 7 compartments with raised bands, 2 with green morocco lettering labels With cancels M3, Q1, U3, 2Z3, 3A4 & 3O4 in volume 1, and cancels D1 & 3Z4 in volume 2, without half-title in volume 2 (not called for in volume 1). Volume 2 with a few light pencil markings in margins and a neat early ink annotation in margin of p.488. First edition of "the first and greatest classic of modern economic thought... Where the political aspects of human rights had taken two centuries to explore, Smith's achievement was to bring the study of economic aspects to the same point in a single work" (PMM).

BOUGAINVILLE, Louis Antoine de (1729-1811)[BOUGAINVILLE] Voyage autour du monde, par la frégate du roi La Boudeuse, et La Flûte l'Étoile; en 1776, 1767. 1768 & 1769. Paris : Chez Saillant & Nyon, 1772. Second édition, augmentée. Two volumes, octavo, contemporary full mottled calf, spines with raised bands, gilt ornament and red labels with gilt lettering, marbled endpapers, all edges stained red, pp 336, 453, [3], first volume with 6 copper engraved maps (folding), second volume with 15 maps (folding) and 3 engraved plates, engraved headpieces, tailpieces and initials, contents of both volumes crisp and clean, a fine copy.
Bougainville's voyage - the first French circumnavigation - was of immense importance in terms of the impetus it provided to a renewal of France's colonial empire following territorial losses suffered to Britain in the Seven Years' War: it opened up the Pacific for French expansion. Yet what cannot be overstated is the impact that Bougainville's own vivid and romanticised descriptions of the Pacific - specifically Tahiti - had on the French public imagination, her writers, artists and thinkers. The utopian ideal of the noble savage living in an Earthly Paradise owes much to Bougainville's response to his encounter with the Tahitian culture and landscape. Even though he was not the first European to reach Tahiti - the Englishman Samuel Wallis had done so one year earlier - Bougainville's account is fundamental to the formation of the European romantic vision of the South Seas.
Bougainville had the imprimatur of the French government to undertake a voyage of exploration which would seek to gather scientific, geographical and cultural information. For example, his narrative includes the first vocabulary of the Tahitian language, which is also the first written glossary of any Polynesian language. The advancement of knowledge had not been the principle objective of French voyages of the preceding period, which were motivated by commercial interests.
After entering the Pacific through the Straits of Magellan early in 1768, Bougainville went in fruitless search of the fabled 'Davis Land', which was rumoured to exist to the west of Chile. He then took possession of the Tuamotu Archipelago and Tahiti for France, providing in his narrative an extensive, detailed and enthusiastic account of Tahiti. Crossing the Pacific he made landfall first in Samoa and then the New Hebrides. From the island of Espiritu Santo, with the thought of possibly discovering the east coast of New Holland, he struck out due west, a course which would have allowed him to reach the coast of Queensland. Fatefully, he was unable to navigate through the Great Barrier Reef, and sailing north instead, he passed through the Solomons (naming Bougainville for himself) and on to Batavia. Bougainville was to learn in Batavia of the exploits of the navigators Wallis and Carteret, both of whom had sailed across the Pacific a short time earlier. However, it was Bougainville's narrative which was to cause a sensation in France upon its publication, in some part because of its contribution to scientific and geographical knowledge but primarily for the account of Tahiti, which was to have such an enduring effect on the European imagination.
The first edition of Voyage autour du monde, also published by Saillant & Nyon, appeared in 1771.
Copies of this slightly expanded second edition are recorded in five Australian collections (National Library of Australia; State Library of New South Wales; State Library of Queensland; University of Queensland Library; State Library of Victoria).

MANUSCRIPT MAP, PART OF SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN, GERMANY from 1776 1776. I am offering a small hand-drawn and hand-colored map of part of Germany near Denmark, the title reading "Landkarte von Eyderstede Everschop und Utholm." The peninsula covered by the map, largely flat marshland, was being diked by the year 1,000 a.d., a cooperative gesture between settlements surely uncommon for the time. The map shows green landscape, heraldic Eyderstede ships, inked names and buildings, map projection numbers, a mileage chart, and the illegible signature of T.C. ****, who drew it in 1776. The map, in its borders, measures 14.5cm x 19,7 cm, and has an old center crease. The reverse bears a few brown stains and possibly a narrow trace of tape. It is on cream laid paper and has never been matted or framed, though the margins are cut fairly close. This little map is amazingly vivid and full of charm.

Biblia, das ist die ganze gottliche hielige Schrift alten und neuen Testaments nach der deutschen Uebersetzung D Martin Luthers Germantown: Christopher Saur, 1776. Thick 4to, pp. [4], 992, 277, [3]; ex-AAS, with their engraved bookplate on the front pastedown; title page cleaned and backed, the title and second leaf with neat repairs to the fore-margin; moderate toning and foxing throughout, and a bit of occasional waterstaining; full contemporary calf, black morocco label on spine; rear board replaced, and the whole rebacked using the original front board and spine; in spite of the restorations, a pretty nice copy, lacking the original clasps. A pencil note on the flyleaf reads: "Purchased Anderson Auction Co,. Sale Oct. 13, 1909." And a corroborating notation in ink on an old bookseller's catalogue cutting pasted in under the bookplate: "Geo. Matthews sale 10/13/09 Anderson Gall." Saur's famed "Gun-Wad Bible", so named because the remaining unbound sheets were used for gun-wadding when the British entered Philadelphia during the American Revolution. The first Bible printed in the Western Hemisphere was Eliot's Indian Bible of 1663. The first Bible printed in the Western Hemisphere in a European language was Christopher Saur's German Bible, published in 1743; it was reprinted in 1763, and again in that fateful year, 1776. "This edition consisted of 3000 copies. The Revolutionary War broke out about the time it was issued, and after the Battle of Germantown, Saur, to preserve the residue of his property, and in the supposition that American independence could not be maintained, went into Philadelphia and resided there whilst the British held possession of that city. His estate was subsequently confiscated in consequence, and his books sold. The principle part of this third edition of the Germantown Bible in sheets were thus destroyed, having been used for cartridge paper" (O'Callaghan, p. 29). Wright, Early Bibles of America, pp. 28-54; Darlow & Moule 4240; Evans 14663; Hildeburn 3336; Sabin 5194.

[Bible in German]: [Saur, Christopher]BIBLIA, DAS IST: DIE HEILIGE SCHRIFT ALTES UND NEUES TESTAMENTS, NACH DER TEUTSCHEN UEBERSETZUNG D. MARTIN LUTHERS MIT JEDES CAPITELS FURTZEN SUMMARIEN, AUCH BENGEFÜGTEN VIELEN UND RICHTIGEN PARALLELEN... Germantown: Christoph Saur, 1776. [4],992,277,[3]pp. Quarto. Contemporary calf over wooden boards, clasps lacking. Hinges cracked but solid, extremities worn. Light foxing and soiling, moderate wear to first and last few leaves. Good. In a custom cloth box, gilt leather label. The third edition of the first European-language Bible printed in America, famously known as the "Gun-Wad Bible," after its use in the American Revolutionary War as cartridge paper during the Battle of Germantown. It is also notable for being the first Bible printed from type cast in America. Reputed to have been printed in an edition of 3000 copies, most are said to have been destroyed by the British during the battle. The present edition was printed by Christopher Saur II, son of Christoph Saur the elder, a native of Wittgenstein, Germany. The elder Saur emigrated to Germantown, Pennsylvania and practiced medicine before turning to printing. It was he who printed the 1743 first edition; the son then printed a second edition in 1763. EVANS 14663. HILDEBURN 3336. SABIN 5194.